This invention generally relates to apparatus and methods for cleaning feed rollers and more particularly relates to a cleaning disc and method for cleaning a feed roller belonging to an imaging device.
Cleaning devices for cleaning feed rollers of imaging apparatus are known. One such device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,227,844 titled "Cleaning Sheet And Method For Cleaning Paper Path Feed Roller Surfaces" issued Jul. 13, 1993, in the name of Himangshy R. Bhattacharjee, et al. This patent discloses passing a cleaning sheet along a paper path of an imaging machine to clean feed roller surfaces in the paper path. The cleaning sheet includes a substrate carrying a coating of synthetic polymeric material in a pattern which assures contact between the coating and the feed surfaces to be cleaned. The coating material has a tack which enables the coating to pick-off particles of unwanted material from the feed roller surfaces and capture the picked-off particles for movement with the cleaning sheet along the paper path and out of the machine. Thus, the cleaning sheet disclosed in this patent moves through the machine along the same path as a sheet of receiver medium would move through the machine. It would appear, however, that use of this device gives rise to at least the risk that the particles picked-up from the feed rollers may be inadvertently redeposited on other printer components (e.g., printhead) laying along the paper path. Moreover, it appears no means is provided to control the amount of time the cleaning sheet remains in contact with the feed rollers because the sheet is apparently automatically fed through the machine at the normal operating feeding rate of the machine. Thus, heavily contaminated feed rollers may require multiple pass-throughs of the cleaning sheet before the feed rollers are adequately cleaned.
Therefore, there has been a long-felt need to provide a suitable cleaning apparatus and method for cleaning a feed roller belonging to an imaging device, so that the problems stated hereinabove are overcome.